Abelardo Rodríguez Urdaneta (1870-1933)

Abelardo Rodríguez Urdaneta (1870-1933), was born in Santo Domingo, the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic.

A painter, sculptor, photographer and educator, Urdaneta is one of the first successful multidisciplinary artist of the modern art era in the Dominican Republic.

Urdaneta self portrait (detail). C. 1905

His Training

Abelardo began his artistic development at the workshop of Juan Fernández Corridor and Cruz, a Spanish painter, who opened an academy in the city of Santo Domingo (1883-1886). He later enrolls in Casa Taller (F. 1883), the workshop Luis Desangles (1861-1940), considered the first master painter born in the Dominican Republic.

His training in photography begins under Julio Pou (1862-1940), who establishes himself as a photographer in Santo Domingo, in 1887. Further training in photography comes under Frank Adover Mercadal (Spain, 1861-1924), credited with introducing dry plates, the elise technique and the illuminated and colored photos with watercolor into the country. Under Adover, Urdaneta also begins his studies in sculpture.

Abelardo’s Legacy

In 1908, with support from the Central Government, Abelardo opened an academy of drawing, painting and sculpture that helped to train many of the great artist of the generation, including; Celeste Woss y Gil, Delia Weber, Genoveva Báez, Aida Ibarra and Fernando 'Tuto' Báez.

In 1890, Abelardo completed his oil portrait of Juan Pablo Duarte, on a 24x30 inch canvas. The image, inspired in great part by the earlier works of Alejandro Bonilla (1820-1901), is today the most recognized and admired reproduction of the founding father.

Artístico RD